


Crosstalk: Epilogues and Vignettes

by koalathebear



Category: Crosstalk - Connie Willis
Genre: Domestic, Domestic Fluff, Epilogue, F/M, Fluff and Smut, Post-Canon, Telepathy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-19
Updated: 2017-02-01
Packaged: 2018-09-18 14:07:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,176
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9388607
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/koalathebear/pseuds/koalathebear
Summary: I adored the novelCrosstalkby Connie Willisand really didn't want to leave their 'world', so had to write few scribbles about Briddey and the adorable C.B.I'm guessing I'm the first (and only) fan fic for this 'fandom'. #tinyfandomsareus





	1. 76 Trombones

The first time they finally kissed, the world had literally come apart. 

Well not literally. It had just felt that way to both of them...

The kiss marked the moment Briddey had finally been able to hear C.B.'s thoughts … until then, he'd been able to read her mind, but his mind – like the man himself - had been a complete mystery to her.

Her fingers had tangled in his thick dark hair as they had kissed, mussing it up from its uncharacteristic tidiness. Neither had noticed. They'd had other things – many other things on their minds.

Briddey, overwhelmed had been the one to break that kiss … breathless and completely dazed from the experience. Despite C.B.'s reticence, his concern that being completely open with another person had its risks … she had never experienced anything quite so wonderful as being inside his thoughts and having his thoughts inside of hers … tangled, intimate and vulnerable.

The second kiss had been initiated by Briddey - putting a hand to the back of his neck and pulling his face down to hers. It had been even more dizzying, more drenching than the first time and it had been C.B. who had broken off that kiss, backing away from her, crashing into the stacked chairs, overwhelmed by the rawness of his emotions … his thoughts …

“What’s wrong?” Briddey had asked.

“What’s wrong?” he had demanded breathlessly, arousal, desire and panic on his face and swirling around in his head. “We practically spontaneously _combusted_. If that’s what kissing you does, sex is liable to—”

“Kill us?” Briddey had queried in amusement. "It doesn’t work like that.”

“But what if—?”

“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it,” she had told him, a smile curving her full mouth as she had put her arms around his neck, this time it was her turn to provide reassurance.

Someone had banged on the door.

 _Aunt Briddey!_ Maeve had exclaimed demandingly. _C.B.! Let me in. I know you’re in there. I can’t believe you guys didn’t tell me about Aunt Oona!_

*

"So. Are you alive?"

"Very funny." 

There was a moment's silence from C.B. as he caught his breath, the sound ragged and slightly laboured. Then he replied raspily,"Barely …"

Briddey smiled, aware that she could scarcely move herself … her body lying limp and boneless on her bed, her bare limbs tangled with C.B.'s…

"You?" he asked her softly.

"Same …but at least we didn't burst into flames …" she told him encouragingly.

_Do you like that?... yes … I like everything .. uh .. especially that …want me to keep going? uh … YES … don't stop …oh … sensitive is it? … everything feels sensitive …_

It hadn't been clear who was saying what … who was thinking what … feeling what …

_love … feels so good … never felt like this … do you want … oh God … I know you like that …yes …of course I want that …_

His arm tightened around her as she rolled towards him and rested her head against his shoulder. He pressed a kiss to her damp temple and smiled wonderingly. 

"Do you think speaking aloud helps at all?" she asked.

"Probably not … but we're both blocking … we have our perimeters up … "

"Are we always going to have to put up such a strong perimeter before we can have sex?" she asked him and he laughed. Physically they were lying in her bed in her apartment … but in their minds, they were in Santa Fe in her courtyard, in a newly constructed alcove with a large bed ...They had constructed a variety of defences around it complete with a transparent, sound-proof dome …

The Canoodle Room … 

"Probably unless we want Maeve, Oona and the Daughters of Ireland bursting in on our activities …"

He leaned over and dropped a kiss to the curve of her bare hip, his lips lingering on the smooth, silken skin before allowing his mouth to travel lower and then back up her body to find her mouth. The kiss lingered … though their bodies had disengaged, their thoughts were still inextricably intertwined, intimate and sensual … repeating and replaying the boundless pleasure of their coupling.

"It felt so good …" Briddey murmured … "I had no idea telepathy could make sex so good …"

"Sex with the right person makes sex good …" he replied, tangling his fingers in hers. "Otherwise we'd just have heard laundry lists and other mundane thought - remember the couple I told you about in the library stacks?"

She nodded and then her body arched up and twitched again in remembrance of the ferocity of her climax … His climax. She couldn't remember whose it had been. Maybe both? Probably both.

It was like the most explicit and erotic of images she had ever seen being repeated and replayed in her mind over and over again, reigniting her body and sensations again.

"Please don't do that at dinner tonight," he remarked even as his hand covered her breast and his thumb brushed against her aroused nipple.

Sex with C.B. was nothing like sex with Trent …

C.B. grimaced. "I should certainly hope not."

"Sorry – I didn't mean to think about Trent."

"It's ok, I got the context," he told her with a grin. "I'm not jealous."

"No need to be … he's a snake … what we had is more than over…"

Trent had been shocked and angry when the two of them had tendered their resignations on the same day. His gaze had gone to their clasped hands.

"Surely you can't be serious, Briddey – you can't be involved with … him…" His voice was horrified.

"Sure I am…and we're going to get married," Briddey had announced and felt the flicker of slightly surprised amusement from C.B., his fingers tightening around hers. He hadn't asked her but she hadn't just assumed. Somewhere along the way she'd picked up on his intentions and she'd already given her assent. They just hadn't spoken aloud about it yet.

He considered more pressing matters, though. "We won't have to build the Canoodle Room each time," he mused. "As long as we have it constructed - then we can just make sure we go there whenever we want to … um …"

He smiled, as did she.

"The bar on the door might be tricky…"

"Maybe we can make the lock fingerprint activated, that way we just need to touch the door with our fingertips and it will let us in …"

"That could work …"

"It would allow us to be more spontaneous," he remarked.

"I like the idea of being … spontaneous …" Her hand slid along his thigh, rising higher.

He swallowed. "Me, too …"

"Feeling like being spontaneous now?" she asked

He smiled. "Look around," he gestured and they were back in her heavily fortified Santa Fe courtyard. His mouth came down on hers and after that point, they didn't even care if the whole world knew what they were doing ...


	2. Maeve

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just some observations from Maeve's point of view.

Maeve didn't eavesdrop deliberately.

She didn't actually have to … the way that C.B. and her Aunt Briddey felt about one another was obvious to the eye - even without the use of telepathy

They would sit at boring family dinners and Maeve would watch her Aunt Briddey's facial expressions… C.B.'s facial expressions. C.B. was madly in love with her aunt. That was clear to her. Every flicker across his face, every gesture … even the most banal of things betrayed how he felt.

Maeve could tell from her aunt's smile that C.B. must have his hand resting on her thigh … his leg pressed alongside hers intimately. She knew that he was stroking his hand up and down her aunt's leg. She knew that they were sharing smiles and jokes throughout the meal. It wasn't that they were speaking with one another telepathically - it was the way that they would glance at one another, a quick smile … a tiny gesture … the slightest inclination of the head, a quirk of the lips ...

Only Maeve would ever know that there was something inside of her that made her slightly wistful, just a little envious as she wondered if she would ever find that kind of quiet contentment. It was a strange question to wonder given that every day was a constant struggle to keep people _out_ of her life and her thoughts. She tried to keep the meddling with her mother at bay, avoid Aunt Oona's well meaning and very inquisitive inquiries…

Her Aunt Briddey and C.B. had constructed the most robust of private rooms within heavily fortified fortresses to shield their thoughts from the others. It was of course for when they were having sex, but it wasn't only for those times. It was for when they were speaking with one another. Thus, it was only now and then, when they were at them most unguarded … during those extremely rare moments when Maeve found herself privy to their most intimate and profound thoughts and emotions

It did occasionally make Maeve feel guilty that she was able to access such closely guarded sentiments but it was also reassuring to know that she was still connected. It was also strangely reassuring to know that it was possible to love someone so deeply and so selflessly. With telepathy came the knowledge that humans could be ugly … unkind … cruel … Thankfully, there was enough love and warmth in the world to almost compensate for the ugliness.

She knew full well that both C.B. and her aunt had been prepared to sacrifice themselves and their very well-being to keep her identity a secret from Trent and the evil corporations that would have sought to exploit her abilities and her gifts.

Even today, the family kept her gift a secret from the Daughters of Ireland. She appreciated their concern even though she did not like being treated like a child.

Sometimes she would watch her Aunt Briddey sit there, eyes distant, C.B. coming up behind her, leaning over and pressing a kiss to the side of her neck … he would touch his hand to her shoulder and Maeve would see the way Briddey looked up at C.B. wordlessly, a soft smile curving her lips as her hand covered C.B.'s. It was hard to imagine a time when her aunt had not loved C.B. but had thought of him with disdain and treated him very poorly.

Her aunt Kathleen and her uncle Sean looked to be in love as well but there was something particularly unique about the relationship between Briddey and C.B…. something that Maeve couldn't quite put a finger on, but that she found intriguing

"You didn't like him before," Maeve pointed out to Briddey.

"It's not that I didn't like him, as such," Briddey corrected her. "I just didn't think about him in that way. I thought that he was smart - probably a genius … but I was just too preoccupied with Trent. I was a complete and total idiot," Briddey admitted frankly.

"Yes you were … I always knew Trent was a horrible person, even before I could read his mind," Maeve told her earnestly.

"And C.B.?"

Maeve's face became serious. "He held my hand when I was terrified … kept the monster at bay and told me I'd be ok."

"He's kind like that," Briddey told her gently, putting her arm around her niece and pulling her close.

"I'm glad you realised what a great guy he is."

"Me, too Maeve … me, too …"


	3. Secure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Still playing with the measures Briddey and C.B. have to put in place for privacy when they want to have sex. Telepathy can be a curse :)

"I don't think I am never going to get tired of _that_..." Briddey commented breathlessly.

"Well I certainly hope not," C.B. answered with a provocative smile. "You know I love you don't you?" he asked her and she nodded.

"You know this place is starting to resemble Fort Knox rather than a place one feels inspired to canoodle." Briddey commented, looking around their surroundings a little ruefully. He had fortified the walls of her Sante Fe courtyard, erected tall walls outside those walls … and put it all in the middle of a complex Elizabethan Maze high on a mountain-top.

"I know I know but what can I do? Maeve seems to be at a break through any barriers we put up. I have to keep fortifying … building … constructing … otherwise we're going to end up with an inquisitive young 10-year-old in here with us in the heat of the moment!"

"Good point," she agreed, leaning over and pressing a kiss to his throat, her hand sliding down his bare chest lingeringly. "What do you need me to do?"

He frowned. "Maybe make the walls a bit higher - she's not very good at climbing. She _is_ very good at picking locks though so let's not make the locks electronic. I think they have to be a retina scan or a thumbprint nothing that she can easily hack."

"You've created a monster," Briddey pointed out with a laugh.

"Not my fault," he protested. "Stubborn determination runs in the family …"

"I can't argue with that," she agreed and slid her arms around his neck, pulling him back down to her.

"Testing the fortifications, are we?" he asked her wickedly.

"Absolutely."


End file.
